Basecamp tents What consititutes LW when talking about big tents and fixed camps

[Edward John M]

The older I get the more I seem to stay in one place for longer.

The last few ski seasons i have actually camped in several spots for the maximum allowed time of 42 days and resort skied.

I’ve been looking at buying a new tent for basecamping from, big enough to be comfortable in for an extended period but light enough to be able to be hauled in on a sled. Not many out there that are both big enough and at the same time tall enough.

I have been thinking of buying a LW carcamping tent and hacking it, specificaly looking at the REI Kingdom4 and adding in another couple of cross-over poles

Thoughts? Ideas? Alternatives costing less than $800- USD

[Franco Darioli]

Have you had a look at the Luxe Hercules tent ?

It is 14 kg but should have all the poles you need already.

[Edward John M]

REI is cheaper if you have to buy the alloy poles and inner tent extra but it did look OK

[Bob Shuff]

Seek Outside?. 6 person Tipi and Radcliff are under $800, but just barely.

I have a Kingdom 4, and don’t see why you would add more poles.  I think you might have an issue with the half wall vents when winter camping.

 

[Edward John M]

What half wall vents? The new model appears to have only a small roof section of mesh which could easily be covered with a secondary inner layer

Extra poles to keep the unsupported fabric length below the 900mm maximum needed to resist a heavy snow fall and here in Oz the snow is always heavy

[Ben H.]

When I was a kid, we used tarps when winter camping.  No need to worry about bugs in the winter and we tended to set up in the woods that offered wind protection.

[Bob Shuff]

I haven’t looked at the new one in person, but from the photos it looks like the one I’ve had for 2 years – except the colors.  When walking in the front door, the first half of the tent is solid on the left and a big half wall vent (netting) on the right.  In the back half of the tent it switches so the netting is on the left.

Love this tent for car camping.  You can stand up and there’s lots of room due to fairly vertical walls, and once guy-lined out it seems very stable in wind (for it’s size).  I can’t speak to it’s heavy snow worthiness.  It’s significantly cheaper than the Tipi’s, but a lot heavier too.  I don’t have the garage attachment, but I used to have a add-on that was a storm vestibule, which created a great place to take off your wet gear before entering.  The garage may be just as good or better.  The vestibule in the back is great for storing gear, but the entry does not give you much room to disrobe before entering the tent proper.

[Edward John M]

I grant that I haven’t seen them in person and I have to go by pictures but compared to my other car camping tents with geodesic frames and fibreglass wands these are light enough and sled haulable for the distances I need to cover.

I think the tents had a design change recently as ones I am looking at on eBat have zippers at both ends and the new ones seem to have the vestibule sewn on; I know whitch one I’d prefer.

One of the reasons for looking at REI tents is that they apply the free shipping costs to a discount on OS shipping which no other US retailer does

[Edward John M]

Not backpackable really but easy enough on a sled

I am seriously considering this one while it is on sale

https://www.tomsoutdoors.com.au/collections/tents/products/helsport-varanger-camp-8-10-person-tent-kit-w-fire

Means I don’t have to worry about modifying to take a stove or fuss buying a tent stove. Tent stoves are rare here in Oz, we usually make our own or import and at least $400- of that sale price is the cost of the stove

 

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